Tag Archives: Life in the Lofthouse

Good Monday morning, everyone! By the time this meal plan concludes, our guests (my mother-in-law and stepfather-in-law) should be on their way down to visit us. We are excited for their trip, and have been planning it for months. Muffin, especially, has all sorts of things he wants his Grandma and Grandpa Mark to do with him while they are here!

This is also the week that sees the official start to summer! (Even though we have had summertime temperatures here in Louisiana for several weeks)

I hope your summer plans are going well, and that you are finding ways to keep your cool (both with your little ones and in the kitchen)!

In honor of Muffin’s seventh birthday on Wednesday, here are seven classic photos of Muffin:

In lieu of going out to eat on his birthday, we instead took him to brunch yesterday, and I will be making his birthday dinner on Wednesday. The only thing he asked for was macaroni and cheese, so I will be serving that with some chicken made infamous by the fact that Muffin once stole it off of my plate. We will also have green beans (one o his favorite veggies).

So, how does the week shape out? Here’s how:

Saturday: I chaperoned the prom. I snacked there. Josh and Muffin had pizza leftover from his birthday party, I think.

Good morning, Monday readers! Well, I’m actually writing this Sunday morning, but I have Monday thoughts on this Sunday.

If you recognize the source of the subtitle, kudos to you! I am waiting (with baited breath) for the sequel (supposedly in October according to the often-incorrect Wikipedia).

The last several months have been a delicate balancing act (read: epic fail at that) of being the mama of a first grader, Star Wars and Nerf Gun enthusiast, and cub scout. Oddly enough, the last has tipped the scales into insanity and hilarity quite often.

Added to that biweekly trips to Aldi (that turn into day-long excursions as lunch is usually included) and the following day spent cooking and prepping for the following week? Yes, writing time has been almost nonexistent.

And, for a long time, I worried that I had lost my writing mojo. I would stare at my list of dishes that I had prepared, new and exciting ones, and felt…blah. Staring at a blank screen with a blinking cursor (and imagining the cursor taunting you with each blink…”You can’t do this; you can’t do this!”) is far more intimidating than staring at a blank spiral notebook page and a pen (which is how I usually compose fiction).

My Muse had escaped me, it seemed. And, then, very recently (in both terms of fiction and here), a new Muse appeared. In other words, the words that have been trapped in my head on the tips on my fingers, almost, have suddenly started purging themselves on paper–and on the screen.

I feel rejuvenated.

So, those people that I am related to (cough cough, my sister, cough cough) who have wondered why they have haven’t been receiving notifications about new posts, you should receive one soon.

This week abuts spring break (yay! finally!) and a much-anticipated trip to Dallas (to celebrate our anniversary last November, Valentine’s Day, and everything in between), so the menu plan is going to look kinda…odd.

Are you ready for the super-charged meal plan?

Or the what-was-she-thinking meal plan?

Here we go!!!

Saturday: Peeps be sick (or, at least Muffin was). I had eaten at a Chinese buffet for brunch that turned into b’lu’pper because I ate too much. Muffin was finally able to hold down two corn dogs from Sonic (yay! 50 cent corn dogs and happy hour drinks!), and I’m not sure what Josh had.

Like this:

Good morning, Pinteresting Blogosphere! It is a super busy week here! This is week two of me being back at work, and Josh is on-call this week. In addition, Muffin has decided that he wants to become a cub scout (thanks to a flier sent home from school), so he and I will be attending his first cub scout meeting this week, as well!

This week I return to the cook and prep on the weekend in readiness for the week. Last week was a mess because I didn’t cook and prep on the weekend. It was catch-as-catch-can and grab stuff on the way home. Oh, and shove things to this week.

So, I am determined to be more successful this week.

Oh, and please don’t judge me for Wednesday. Every once in a while I get nostalgic for things like ramen noodles, and, in an extremely odd bout of August weather, it’s supposed to be rainy and (fairly) cool that day. I consider (especially the way I make them) ramen noodles to be soup, and I am going to stretch things a bit and say Wednesday will be soupy weather.

Like this:

This week’s entry comes a bit late, but we are trying a whole messa’ recipes this week. We are busily learning a poem for Muffin to present on Wednesday about the American flag. Things are busy, busy, busy!

If you’ve been tuning in for the last few months, you know that I’ve created a meal plan for the rest of the year. So far, I haven’t exactly followed them, but I know they are available as old standbys if I need them. As November begins Sunday, it is now time to share the November menu.

Set your oven to preheat at 400 degrees. Line a half-sheet pan with foil.

Mix until just combined all ingredients except 1/4 cup of barbecue sauce in a medium bowl. Divide and shape into four loaves. Place each on the baking pan. Spread barbecue sauce on the top of the loaves.